LAS VEGAS – Just as Marcus Davis appeared on his way to a decision win and successful lightweight debut, Jeremy Stephens’ right hand came a knockin’.

Staggered in the first and third rounds and sometimes struggling to land cleanly on his opponent, Stephens unloaded a perfectly placed right hand to set up a third-round knockout victory.

The bout was the featured attraction on UFC 125’s preliminary card, a portion of which aired live on ION Television from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The first-ever UFC-ION broadcast preceded the night’s pay-per-view main card. And it provided a little of everything, including a come-from-behind win, a stunning upset, and a highlight-reel knockout.

Stephens provided the latter.

In a bout featuring prolific strikers with ever-improving ground games, Davis vs. Stephens was spent mostly upright. Davis took the early lead with an overhand left that wobbled his opponent, and though Stephens came back to win the second, he again was staggered in the third when Davis connected on a left hook. But with the lead on the judges’ card and the finish line in sight, Davis ate a big right hand square to the chin and instantly hit the canvas. Stephens followed with a vicious (though unneeded) followup blow to put the exclamation point on the preliminary card’s most violent finish.

The often-inconsistent Stephens (19-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) now has won three of his past four fights while Davis (17-8 MMA, 9-6 UFC), a former welterweight contender, has dropped four of five.

Poirier shocks Grispi, wins lopsided decision

Josh Grispi had been booked for a first-ever UFC featherweight title fight before champion Jose Aldo hit the sidelines with an injury. Fans then were understandably surprised this week when UFC officials said a win over replacement Dustin Poirier wouldn’t necessarily keep Grispi first in line for a shot at the belt.

None of that now matters.

In the night’s first upset, 21-year-old Poirier simply out-struck, out-muscled and ultimately outpointed the favored Grispi for a lopsided unanimous-decision win.

Poirier, who didn’t begin any real martial-arts training until he was 17, wasted little time going after his opponent. His punches and kicks landed so easily that Grispi quickly was forced into defensive maneuvers. But whether trying to pull guard, slow the attacks with submission attempts, or simply covering up, Poirier’s attacks couldn’t be slowed.

Grispi’s biggest accomplishment simply was surviving for the final bell.

Although taken to the mat a few times after that opening round, Poirier never found himself in any real danger. He easily slammed out a triangle choke in the second, and Grispi’s other submission attempts came up well short. A final takedown in the third frame presented Grispi no openings, and Poirier ultimately earned 30-27 scores on all three judges’ cards.

With the impressive victory, Poirier (9-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), whose only loss came to Danny Castillo during his WEC debut, should get another high-profile opponent in his next bout. Grispi (14-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), meanwhile, must work his way back into title contention after snapping a 10-fight win streak.

Tavares KOs Baroni in slugfest

Fans launched a Twitter campaign to get a bout between welterweights Brad Tavares and Phil Baroni a spot on a preliminary-card broadcast. Thankfully, UFC officials obliged, and the first UFC fight on ION Television opened with a bang.

With UFC president Dana White surprisingly booking three fights for a one-hour timeslot, he needed quick finishes. Baroni looked as though he would be the savior when he dropped his opponent with a left hook, followed him to the mat, and then torqued a guillotine choke. Tavares, though, survived and quickly worked his way back to his feet.

White, though, still would get his quick finish.

After getting a brief timeout after taking a knee to the groin, Tavares soon went on the attack and popped Baroni with a grazing head kick, straight right punch, high-knee strike and another straight right. Baroni was dazed and dropped to a knee against the cage. Tavares pounced with a barrage of additional blows until the referee could no longer allow the punishment to continue.

The knockout came at the 4:20 mark of the opening round.

“I want to go and be able to enjoy myself because I worked really hard, and I had a ton of friends and family come in from Hawaii to see me,” he said. “I stuck to a really strict diet, and now I’m going to eat everything that I wasn’t able to like milk and cookies.”

Tavares (7-0 MMA 2-0 UFC) remains undefeated and secures his sixth career stoppage win. Baroni (13-13 MMA, 3-7 UFC), meanwhile, now has suffered six straight octagon losses over two UFC stints and may head into retirement.

Nunes edges Brown – with one eye shut

It took Diego Nunes 15 minutes, two judges and one good eye to pick up the biggest win of his career.

The WEC featherweight contender lost the first round of his fight with former WEC champ Mike Brown, and he suffered a badly damaged left eye in the process. But despite his limited vision, he capitalized on Brown’s late-fight fade, unloaded blows from all angles, and effectively landed knees from the clinch to earn a close split-decision victory.

Brown, fighting for the first time in the UFC since a 2004 loss to Genki Sudo, jumped out to an early lead with a big first-round slam. His quick hands also battered Nunes’ eye, which quickly swelled and prompted a doctor’s intervention after the round. Perhaps miraculously, the fight wasn’t stopped, and Nunes soon launched his one-eyed attack while Brown slowly tired.

In the end, the judges awarded Nunes the victory via scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. The MGM Grand Garden Crowd heavily booed the decision, though the bout could have gone either way. (MMAjunkie.com scored it 29-28 Nunes.)

The magnitude of the victory wasn’t loss on Nunes.

“This is a great win,” he said. “Of course, I’m a little sore, but it’s great to fight Mike Brown and great to be in the UFC.

“I’ve never had anything in my life, and now I’m fighting on the biggest stage, and I can only thank God.”

With the win, Nunes (16-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), whose only career loss came via decision to L.C. Davis, should move comfortably into the 145-pound division’s worldwide top 10. Brown (24-7 MMA, 0-2 UFC), once the world’s top featherweight, now has dropped three of his past five fights.

Roberts survives, taps out Soto

Daniel Roberts survived early trouble and quickly rebounded to submit Greg Soto for his third straight UFC victory.

Soto struck first and staggered his fellow welterweight with a solid right punch to the head, sprawled to avoid a takedown, and then worked a guillotine choke with his opponent clearly in survival mode. He couldn’t cinch the submission, though, and Roberts quickly responded with a takedown of his own.

Once on the mat, “Ninja” eventually grabbed an arm, moved to side control, and torqued a kimura on the Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt to force the tap-out at the 3:45 mark of the opening round.

“I knew he was giving it to me, and that’s my move right there,” he said. “I just locked it up, and I rolled with it. I have a couple of kimura submissions. I hit it a lot.”

Prior to the fight, Roberts (12-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) told MMAjunkie.com he ignored a steady stream of trash talk from his opponent and would do his talking in the cage. He did just that and picked up his third straight octagon victory following a UFC-debut loss to John Howard.

Soto (8-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) suffers his second loss in three fights following a 7-0 start to his pro career.

Volkmann snaps McKee’s streak

Jacob Volkmann fought UFC newcomer Antonio McKee’s fight, and though it provided an expected snoozer, it did get the lightweight fighter the win.

Volkmann wrestled the wrestler, used a dominant ground position in a pivotal second round, and ultimately snapped McKee’s 15-fight undefeated streak with a split-decision victory.

The night’s opening bout ended in a cascade of boos after sometimes mercilessly slow first and third rounds. The action often stalled in the clinch, and each fighter telegraphed usually unsuccessful takedown attempts. Aside from Volkmann’s extended rear-naked-choke attempt in the second, neither fighter came close to finishing the fight.

In the end, though, Volkmann did enough to earn the victory via scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.

“I knew it was going to be a close fight, but I thought I won the first two rounds, so I believe I won the fight,” he said. “I’ve been having trouble finishing the rear-naked choke the last few weeks, but I’ll get back in the gym and nail it.”

Since a disastrous 0-2 start to his UFC career, Volkmann (12-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC), a three-time NCAA Division I wrestling All-American, now has posted three consecutive wins, all via decision. McKee (25-4-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffers his first loss since 2003.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.